SECRET WORLD LIVE

From his early days as a singing flower, to his most recent "Growing Up" Tour Peter Gabriel has always been a very visual performer. His 1994 "Secret World" Live Tour is no different. From revolving video screensand bottomless suitcases, to phone booths and a unique treadmill stage, Gabriel's Secret World stage show is a visual extravaganza that is entertaining to the viewer. Almost every song performed during this tour seems to have some sort of unique feature to it, making the show at times intimate, and at other times fun.

While frequently eye-catching (especially the camera work in 'Digging In The Dirt'!), the focus on visual stimuli at times does take away from what should be the central focus of any performer: the music. The DVD medium is visual after all, so most fans should appreciate the the work Gabriel and crew put together.

The music for the tour is primarily from Gabriel's 1992 studio album "Us", and is predominantly more 'pop' than 'progressive'. It is enjoyable, but connaisseurs of Gabriel's earlier (read: more progressive) albums might be disappointed with the sparse few songs representing this part of his solo career. Only 'San Jacinto' and 'Solsbury Hill' make an appearance, the former being quite moving and memorable, and the latter, surprisingly, coming across as quite bland and poppy.

The musicianship, as frequently noted in other reviews, is top-notch! I always get a kick seeing Tony Levin (of Crimson fame) playing Gabriel's more easy-going grooves. Seems like night and day when you compare his work with latter-day Fripp vs latter-day Gabriel music. Both excellent in their own right, but you can not get two more different styles!

There is a flaw that I'd like to point out about this DVD film of the Secret World show. That is the audio sync. It seems (even though not all that noticable) that the audio used for the film doesn't always sync up with what is actually being sung. This is not to say that Gabriel et al are lip-syncing! (Far from it) It just appears that maybe different versions of songs (from shows other than the night the film was recorded) are/were used at times.

An excellent, and visually pleasing film. Recommended, especially to latter-day Gabrielites!